The Oldest Story in the Book

Chapter 26

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note: This gets a little ewy, sexually speaking. There's some bartering in here that a little...not so good. So be prepared. If you don't come through this chapter with a new respect for my girl either I'm not doing my job or you're not trying.

Norrington reluctantly turned away from the arguing pirates to follow his daughter stealthily through the close woods to where the men waited with his gagged, struggling son.

They worked their way behind the laughing pirates before breaking into the semi-open area. Both men were taken completely by surprise. Will ran the first one through as Emmie seamlessly slit the second's throat. As Elizabeth and Norrington cut Ethan's bonds Will's second pirate got off a quick yell before Emmie turned and buried a dagger deep in his throat. The girl shrugged as she found every eye turned on her.

"They may have heard that. We need to go," she whispered.

Norrington nodded, helping his son to his feet as Ethan removed the gag. "Is it true?" he gasped.

"Now isn't the time," Norrington answered.

"All you have to say is yes or no," Ethan answered. "There's time enough for that."

Norrington sighed. "I don't know exactly what they know, exactly what they told you, but I will say it is most likely true."

Ethan shook his head, but let his father take his arm and turn him toward the exit. "You go. I'll meet you down there."

"You're to come with us," Emmie said.

"They're outnumbered," Norrington said.

"They can handle it," Elizabeth said quickly.

"I'll stay," Emmie said.

"No," Norrington said. "You heard Bootleg threaten you. Your mother and grandfather will be too on edge if you start fighting. Go down to the beach. Take care of them. They need your skills. I'll meet you shortly."

Emmie sighed, then nodded. "Come on, brother dear. I'll answer your questions when we're down there."

Norrington snuck back to the edge of the wood. Everyone was just where he had left them. Apparently they hadn't heard the guard's shout.

"I just don't see it," Bootleg said. "I have you here, outnumbered. I'll have your ship by sundown. I see nothing you have to bargain with."

"I still have myself."

"My dear, you're all but in the bag. And I am going to enjoy you."

"You don't have my consent. My willingness. You didn't do so well without that last time, as I recall."

Bootleg turned to stare at her. "You? In my bed? Willingly?"

Jack was staring wide-eyed at his daughter, who was nodding. Norrington imagined he had much the same look on his face.

"That's the idea," Pearl answered.

Bootleg came closer, circling her. He stopped between Jack and Pearl, raising a hand to stroke her cheek. To her credit, she didn't wince away. "Well, this does open a whole new set of doors, doesn't it?"

Pearl moved suddenly, one moment holding perfectly still and the next gripping his wrist to twist his hand away from herself. The man didn't show any signs of pain although it looked as if it would bruise. Jack smirked. "You don't have me yet. As for new doors, it opens many that give me opportunities to kill you."

"Aye." He reclaimed his hand. "Details."

"If you give me the boy and let Jack leave with him, you get me until I manage to kill you or myself," Pearl said.

"Ah, no good. You still have a sword. No guarantee I get anything," Bootleg said.

"It's more than you have now."

"Two nights you behave yourself."

A muscle under Pearl's eye twitched. Jack's hands were balled into fists and he was turning a lovely shade of crimson.

"No. A lot can happen in one night, let alone two. I'll guarantee you twice."

Bootleg moved closer. "What twice? What exactly are we constituting 'getting you'?"

Jack darkened into a burgundy.

"Sex. Foreplay that goes with it. If you can't...rise to the occasion you forfeit."

Jack smirked although he was still rather red. "Three," Bootleg bartered.

"Two. And you have two nights to do it. I'm not waiting around because you aren't in the mood. If your crew starts taking liberties that counts. And you promise to leave my family alone, short of regular plundering. You never lay a finger on my daughter."

Norrington felt his heart skip a beat. This was too much. She had no way of knowing they had Ethan. She had no way of knowing that Bootleg couldn't complete the arrangement. She was willing to do all this if she had to.

Bootleg considered, this for a moment, studying her carefully. Finally he broke into a grin. "All right. Deal." He stepped forward to offer her his hand. Pearl started to reach out to take it, but her hand swerved at the last minute to catch Jack's wrist. Apparently Jack had decided to take a swing at the pirate, an attempt Pearl had thwarted.

"Behave," Pearl ordered her father, forcefully dropping his wrist.

Jack snorted, but crossed his arms as Pearl shook Bootleg's hand.

"All right, lad. Go get the boy again. Tell him he's goin' home," Bootleg called to one of his minions.

Norrington withdrew to the clearing his son had been in to wait for the pirate. The man hurried down the path, stumbling into the clearing in shock at finding it empty but for the bodies of his two companions and discarded ropes. His mouth fell open and he turned, taking two rushing steps. He skidded to a stop again when he found Norrington standing in the middle of the path. "Who the bloody hell are you?" the pirate asked, hand going to his sword hilt.

Norrington raised his sword to point at the man. "I'm the man whose son you made the incredible mistake of stealing from me."

The man grinned. "Your wife must have been mighty pretty, because he certainly didn't get his looks from you." The pirate drew his sword as Norrington approached, his grin revealing crumbling teeth. "Or mayhaps he ain't your son at all. How much you stupid enough to trust your wife?"

The first strikes rang through the clearing. "I trusted my wife implicitly." He made a feint toward the man's side and brought the cut forward, nearly gutting him. The man recovered quickly, and Norrington stumbled a bit in catching a strike meant to take off his head. This pirate had an amazing way with a sword. "A cad like you would never understand."

The pirate shrugged before sending a flurry of blows at him. "The good lasses of Tortuga suit my needs fine. They demand considerable less from a body, and give a great deal more back."

"Candor?" they heard behind them.

"We been bushwhacked!" the pirate called as Norrington attacked viciously. "Gut them and git down to the beach. They can't have gone far."

As they continued to duel Norrington could hear the clash of metal on metal behind them. He sent a quick prayer up to whoever might be listening, especially Maggie, to keep them safe for his son's sake as well as Pearl's.

Pearl had said Bootleg would bring the best of his men, and this one certainly was one of the best Norrington had ever crossed swords with.

After fifteen minutes they were both sweating profusely, gasping for breath, neither able to pause long enough in the onslaught to catch their breaths. As the pirate gained the upper hand, something he had gained and lost ten times in the past minutes, he drove Norrington back toward the brush. A sudden root caught Norrington's foot, sending him onto his back into a bush.

Grinning victory the man approached with raised sword. "Drop it and surrender," the pirate suggested. "We'll let you live long enough to witness that pretty-pretty's fate. You can beg us properly to end your son right quick."

"If you believe Pearl Sparrow will accept that fate you have another thing coming. You've put those she cares for in danger. I don't believe there's anything more dangerous in this world."

The pirate shrugged as Norrington shifted back. "I think I'll take my chances, especially when the awards are that good. Tell me, how many times did you betray you're darling, faithful wife with her?"

Norrington ground his teeth but otherwise remained perfectly still. "Never."

"Pity. You'll never taste her again. Any messages you want me to pass on, Commodore?"

"Yes." With that Norrington moved, uncoiling the legs he'd pulled under him. He sent his sword questing up, severing the hand that still held the pirate's sword. The man screamed, started to step back, but Norrington was faster. He brought his sword around to bury it deeply in the man's gut. He gaped at the Commodore, gurgling as his mouth worked. "Pride goethe before a fall."

The man fell onto the ground, gurgling one final time before he was still. Norrington pulled his sword from the bloody mess before hurrying back toward the sound of clashing swords.

A bloody body lay in the middle of the clearing, making Norrington's heart speed at first until he recognized it as one of Bootleg's henchmen. The first one must have fallen failry easily. Still, Norrington was glad he had caught the other pirate, evening the odds a bit.

His seeking eyes found Pearl was across the opening, facing Bootleg.

Blades moved so swift the glint of Caribbean sun was no more than a blur in the hot air. Sweat leaked through the fabric of Bootleg's shirt, and once Norrington noticed that, he also saw that Pearl's shirt was soaking wet. His heart skipped a beat. How long could she go on like that? The pirate captain was considerably larger than her, more than likely stronger in terms of pure muscle as well, and was using his size and weight to his advantage every opportunity he got.

Fortunately, Pearl wasn't giving him many openings. Still, Norrington couldn't help hoping the sleep deprivation and wound nerves he'd seen in Pearl on the ship didn't get the best of her.

Norrington couldn't remember having ever seen Pearl move like that, and Bootleg seemed to be matching her.

Norrington's heart sped yet more when he caught a flash of red as he moved closer. It was out of sight in a flash, so quickly it seemed to reach up to mingle with the red of her short- chopped hair. But as she turned again he saw it more clearly. Lower, on her left arm, far below the fall of blinding hair. A tear in the sleeve of her shirt dripped red, tattered remains hanging low to reveal the angry slash of dark blood. He'd tagged her, and it seemed to be bleeding fairly liberally.

Norrington's grip flexed on his sword, and he forced himself to remain still, not to rush into the fight. She was holding her own, and she wouldn't thank him for interfering when she wasn't in any real danger. She probably wouldn't thank him for rushing in if Brendon had his sword to her throat either, but...no, he wouldn't think of that.

The clang of sword to the left drew Norrington's attention temporarily away from Pearl to her father, engaged in a fight with the remaining pirate.

Jack was backing up under the pirate's onslaught, turning aside the flashing sword without even attempting to return the attack. Jack jumped suddenly, landing on a large rock, taking the time to throw a verbal barb at the pirate before jumping down as he approached, moving to meet him on more even footing as he pursued.

Norrington rolled his eyes and shook his head. Easily outmatched, Jack continued to fall back as he met the man's hits. Norrington sighed, moving closer to the match although remaining far enough away to stay out of it. Even facing down pirates he couldn't bring himself to so thoroughly violate the rules of fair combat by jumping into Jack's fight.

''Be honest,' a voice in the back of his mind, an obnoxiously sensible part he was fairly certain Maggie had installed, ordered. 'Is it truly the rules of combat that hold you back, or the fact that it's Jack?'

He prepared to tell himself firmly that he was following the rules of engagement when his eyes fell on Pearl again. If she fell, if Bootleg got through, if she cried out in pain or fear, he wouldn't hesitate to rush to her aid, rules or no.

'And Jack?' He looked back at the pirate. He would hesitate, certainly. Jack could have some master plan, could fake an injury to get the upper hand, in which case he could only be in the way. But if he knew Jack to be in real danger he would go to his aid. Yes, he was fair.

More than fair, he realized with a sudden start. He respected Jack, in the same grudging way he admired Emmie and Pearl for their abilities on the sea, even if it was pirating. He no longer wanted Jack dead, even if he was a surly pirate who pillaged and killed without conscience. He had trouble remembering a time when he had wished Jack's neck into the hangman's noose.

As he watched Jack backed further into the wooded area. He started down on a path between two bushes, catching hold of a tree to retain his balance, sword singing as he continued to fend off his attacker. No, not to retain his balance, Norrington realized moments before Jack released the limb which swung back to hit his opponent square in the face. He moved quickly, throwing his sword up and across, catching the man's throat.

Blood splurted forward, painting Jack with a fine layer of red as the man crumpled into a heap without a sound. Jack stepped out of the trees, wiping some of the blood from his face and inclining his head to Norrington as he paused to clean his sword on the downed man's soiled shirt before sheathing it and moving over to the Commodore. He turned to watch his daughter continue to battle Bootleg as he said, "Thought we told you to go down to the beach."

Norrington shrugged. "Change of plans. I'm glad I stayed now. You would have been hard pressed to deal with four."

"I'd feel better if you were on the beach. Bootleg may have reenforcements down there."

"Will and Emmie can handle it, and Ethan isn't a bad hand with a sword. But if you're worried about it we can end this here and now." Norrington raised his sword, the idea suddenly appealing to him. The man had stolen his son, and he had the chance to end it.

"No." Norrington was startled by the strength in Jack's voice. His face, for once, was absolutely serious. His eyes had lost their perpetual joking shine. The trails of blood still clinging to his face, holding to the slight wrinkles of tanned skin and lodged in his facial hair and dripping locks, made him look all the more severe. "She's been fighting this devil for twenty years." Jack scratched the back of his neck. "This is one demon she has to put down once and for all, by herself. Honestly, if she loses I think the kindest thing to do would be to let him kill her."

Norrington's head snapped up, his eyes centered on Jack in a heated glare. "I can't believe you'd say that."

Jack shook his head. "You may know all about military proto call, lad, but you don't know anything about fear, or about this woman."

"I know fear," Norrington argued.

"You know battle," Jack argued. "The worst they can do to you is kill you. Maybe make you watch while they kill your crew. Torture you if you know something they want. But the kind of fear she endures, the fear of what enemies will do to you merely because you're a woman. No, that's the sort of fear you and I will never know, thanks be to whoever you see fit to pray to." Jack turned his eyes on Norrington, and he was startled by the depth of those orbs. "I've watched her battle through it, lad, and her fear on Emmie's behalf. No, this is a nightmare she must put to rest herself."

Norrington looked back at the woman with a new respect. He thought he vaguely recalled Maggie saying something of the sort one evening when they discussed her respect for Pearl. Pearl was a subject they had talked of often enough, surprisingly.

He shook his head then. What was he thinking? Let this man kill Pearl? Stand by while the man who had tried to rob him of his son fought his future wife? What kind of man would that make him?

"No," he said. Jack turned from looking at the fight, eyes narrowing as he studied the Commodore. "No. I can't just stand by. I'm going to finish this." He took one step forward.

Jack moved swiftly, drawing his sword and stepping easily into his path. "No, lad, you aren't."

"You'd fight me?"

"If I must."

Norrington's eyes narrowed. "I'll beat you."

"Maybe. You're the better swordsman," Jack conceded. "But you're too wrapped up in anger just this moment. I'd wager I could best you."

"And if you have to kill me to stop me?"

Jack shrugged. "I do what I must. The rest is up to you."

"He took my son!" Norrington sent toward the Captain.

Jack shook his head. "You're making this personal, and it ain't. This ain't about you. He kidnaped your son, aye, but he did it to get to my daughter. This is her fight, not yours."

"He made it mine when he took my son!" Norrington called.

"You're repeating yourself. Look, twenty years ago he took Pearl's innocence. Her back's a maze of scars. She's lived with that. Today, tomorrow, yesterday. She had the greater call for revenge, I'd say. Now we can fight, or we can go watch. What's it to be, lad?"

Norrington's eyes narrowed at him. "You're asking me to trust you?"

"I'm asking you to trust that I know my daughter."

"If she dies..."

"She won't," Jack cut in quickly. "Trust it to fate, if you like. Call upon God to chose the winner as the most just. But I know Pearl's anger, if nothing else, assures her in this."

Finally Norrington nodded, sheathing his sword. "We're close Jack. Don't make me regret this."

"You'd regret it a lot more if you broke in. She'd see to that," Jack said.

He moved carefully across the field, avoiding the fight and finding a better view where they could hear the conversations. Norrington followed.

Author's Note: So there you go. That's all the more I can do just this moment. I hope to have more for you soon.

If any of you lazy bums haven't gone to spotted.paw's story, I'm very disappointed in you. And hurt. I may cry. In all seriousness, if you trust me at all, it's worth it. The shock alone is worth it.

This is just a little aside, but if I could trouble you, the reviews have been trickling in (and thank you to those who have reviewed–you're my life's blood at the moment). I know how it is with long stories, I have a tenancy to stop reviewing and keep reading too. So, if you would, hit review and just type 'Bump' or something so that I know you're still reading. Boost my ego a little, will you please? I could use it.

Well, I've finished one paper and have three more clawing for my attention, so I had best get to it. Everyone have a great Thanksgiving!